Week One of Summer Vacation

Greetings and salutations!

What a first week of summer vacation it has been! There have been many activities, a trip, and visits with three sets of cousins. Wow, what a great start to the summer.

Our week started out with a trip up to Edmonton on Saturday, after the weather was miraculously nice enough for a Cricket practice! We arrived and headed over to Grandma's for a fantastic tea spread. She had port cured sausage, old cheddar, strawberries, cherries, cookies, squares and crackers. We enjoyed our tea in the +25 on her patio which she has all decked out for summer living. Ironically SparkJ the smallest, took the lounger, where upon Grandma gave her sips of tea. Too funny!

Then we were off to meet The 4A's for AuntieA's birthday dinner. It was a complete blast, as we had two side by side booths. In the fashion of most family meals in my childhood the kids ate together. They all enjoyed not having us directly supervising. CubJ did a good job of being in charge, ensuring that SparkJ ate enough and Cousin N stayed sitting! At one point the girls scolded AuntieA and me for being at their table. After dinner we hit the park for a bit. All in all it was a great chance to visit.

Sunday, the kids let DaddyJ and me sleep in until 9 which was very nice considering we were each sleeping with one of them. We had a lazy breakfast before heading to the mall for a round of mini golf. Then we caught up with Grandma and took in Toy Story 3. We all enjoyed the movie which was surprisingly good for a third instalment! After the movie it was time for the Father's Day slash Grandma's birthday dinner and kids sleeping over at her house celebrations.

Monday while DaddyJ was at work, we had some fun in Galaxyland, caught up with The A’s after Cousin L was done school and then had dinner with Grandma. It was a quiet evening but very enjoyable.

Thursday we got to catch up with our Cousins who are visiting from Kazakhstan! The kids were all very excited to see each other. For something different, we went bowling at Chinook. Auntie L, Cousin R and Cousin C all seemed remarkably wide awake for 4 in the afternoon considering the 12 hour time change. We all had a great time bowling with our fashionable shoes. When we were all done, had celebrated several +100 scores and worked up an appetite we went out for dinner.

Saturday proved to be another nice day. After having gotten in some batting practice earlier in the week, CubJ had a great time at Cricket. Later that afternoon, the kids got to catch up with instalment three of the cousins as CubJ went to Star Wars in Concert with Auntie C and Cousins N & D. He really enjoyed hearing the orchestras perform the music, seeing the movie clips on the big screens and having the man who did C3PO’s voice narrate.

As if loud music and Star Wars were not enough, it was then time to wrap up week one with more time with the Kazakh cousins. The Boys headed to laser tag and Wendy’s while the Girls went for dinner at Earls. Everyone enjoyed themselves greatly before ending the night having a sleep over with the Cousins. On Sunday morning DaddyJ and I woke up without the kids for a second time in a week. It has been an exciting week for everyone.

In very exciting news, we now have a brand new baby cousin in the family! Baby S was born on June 11th, to our dear Aunties EQ and A. We are looking forward to meeting our newest cousin Silvia from N.B. and our catching up with our Calgary Cousins soon on our "The J's Cousin Extravaganza 2010".

We look forward to more fun as the summer goes on, all be it, most likely not as much fun in so few days as this week has been!
Best Wishes to you all,

MommyJ

Goodbye 2009/10 and the Spoils of a Good School Year!

Good Bye Grade 3 and Kindergarten!

Well, happy news, both kids are moving on to the next grade! They have both successfully completed all of the requirements of their years and will be moving on to Grade Four and Grade One. Wow! Pleasantly, the school now offers a second round of pictures where the kids are in their 'vesti choix' or casual clothes. Look at how big my babies are getting:

Next year will be an exciting one for both of them. SparkJ will take on much more serious learning with a huge focus on having all of the grade one students reading before Christmas. After going to all day kindergarten, I am sure she will be up to at least part of the challenge. I know that CubJ is looking forward to not being the only one with homework.... Speaking of homework for CubJ, next year he will begin studying Spanish. It is not a super intensive introduction this year, rather it is presented at the level that most of his non-immersion peers will begin French. It should prove exciting for all.

The rewards for having a successful year at school included: many books, journals, pencil cases with gel pens for journaling, Lego (big shock I know), Zhu Zhu pets (mini robotic hamsters) and skate boards!

Great work littleJ's, enjoy your treats!

xoxox Mommy & Daddy

Skiing for Spark J and Graduation!

I have no idea where the time has gone!

Our sweet SparkJ has graduated from Kindergarten! What a year she has had enjoying meeting new friends, learning more french and getting into the life of a full-day schooler. My favourite quote from her this year has been that what she best likes about school is "Learning to speak French in full sentences, (I know you're thinking how sweet, how nice...) so I can speak more French than my brother!"

We were so lucky to have such a wonderful Kindergarten teacher for SparkJ. MadameG was a perfect fit for her. She kept her interested, entertained and always happy to come to school! Thank you for a great year MadameG.

In down loading the pictures from her end of the year Graduation, I came across the pictures of her class going skiing in January.

Oh what a fun year it has been: